Setting up new bench

[GixxerGuy]

Finally got my bench all built, and press delivered. Hopefully going to mount the press this weekend, then upload some pics!

[Whiterabbit]

I bolted a steel plate under my bench, drilled and tapped for my press holes. Makes the press seriously stable.

especially after the bench is bolted to the concrete floors and wall studs

[NotEnufGarage]

Looks good! If you have 6 to 8" between the bench and your safe, you could mount a bunch of the plastic storage bins from Harbor Freight there for bullets and brass.

If that is all sitting on carpet, I'd recommend getting a office chair mat to put there so you're not generating a bunch of static electricity through your shoes or socks. Regardless, if it's carpet, you should get a static wristband to wear while you're reloading. Run a wire from the center screw on an outlet plate (should be wired to ground) to your press and clip the anti-static clip to the press.

I'd plan on doing my brass tumbling somewhere else, like the patio or garage. It generates a lot of dust and it's not stuff you want to be breathing in, since it may have traces of lead and mercury in it.

Are those cabinets bolted to the wall studs and/or floor? If not, you'll want to load up the lower cabinets with some weight to keep it from wanting to move around on your. The press exerts a lot of force on the bench when you're sizing rifle brass.

[a1fabweld]

That's a very clean setup! Lucky duck gets to load in the house!

I made an all steel reloading bench for stability. And because I could with the scrap sitting around. My frame is made up of 2x2x.120 square tube, 3 lockable steel drawers mounted side by side under the bench top, an expanded metal shelf about 8" off the ground, and a 1/4" formed plate benchtop with a 6" back splash & 2" broke down front edge. I welded a 2x6 piece of rect tube to the side of the frame about waist high to mount my press to so it is not taking up any of my bench space. For levelers I installed 3/4" bolts at the bottom of each leg. The thing weighs about 400+ LBS. It's rock solid & my Chargemaster can even dispense accurately while I'm running the press.

[M27]

don't mount it in the middle of the bench

I would recommend mounting as far right or left, your preference, as you can without interfering with the motion of the press, like right over the trash can would be my preference.

this way you have as much support as you can get.

my first press was mounted right in the middle of my bench and every stroke of the handle would cause the bench to shake a little

[deac777]

Nice bench setup. Did you make the cabinets or did you buy them pre-made? If you bought them, where did you get them?

[johnjohn301]

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions. Thought I'd update for those intersted -
The cabinets came from Home Depot - happen to catch them 20% off too!
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The powder measure is just clamped (x2) and is pretty solid and comes off in about 5 seconds. Press is mounted to the bench top - sure hated drilling that birch top, but didn't have any plate around. Held down with 3/8 stainless and thumbscrews. Comes out in about 15 seconds.

All in all - I'm real happy with the set up. Going to put a shelf (or two) on the bottom in-between the cabinets still because it's a lot of space that isn't used now.



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Picked up some supplies to get started - Dang! They practically give this stuff away! LoL

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[johnjohn301]

Picked up 150-200 pieces of .223 at the range that I have been playing with, testing dies and press and getting comfortable with all the case prep chores. Have about one more week of testing and reading before I begin loading some basic .223 & .243. Can't beat free stuff!



Have really been enjoying getting this going. Definitely recommend that anyone in my shoes (just starting out) do your research, take your time, test each step a couple of times before you put it all together to run out some ammo. I'm already an expert at removing brass stuck in the sizing die. LoL